


Komainu

by samsarapine



Category: Naruto
Genre: Blanket Permission, Curses, Friendship, M/M, Mythical Beings & Creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-02
Updated: 2016-10-02
Packaged: 2018-08-19 01:42:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8184280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samsarapine/pseuds/samsarapine
Summary: Iruka is cursed, and no one knows how to save him.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Summer 2013 KakaIru Fest, for Team Trope.
> 
> Thanks to my fantastic teammates, atsuki-hime, end1essly and ericales, with special thanks to atsuki-hime for her wonderful beta-fu and for not yelling at me when I inadvertently lifted an idea from her. Go, Team Trope!

 

**Komainu**

  
  
  
Iruka crawled toward Konoha's walls, blind with exhaustion, chakra-starved. He prayed someone would be there to meet him.  
  
They couldn't be dead. Not all of them. Not yet.  
  
His heart dropped when he reached the gate. Closed. For protection? Or because Konoha had become a ghost village, damned and left as a warning to anyone who approached? He slumped against the nearest post, placed his hand on the gate, gathered the last of his chakra and bled it into the wood.  
  
As the gate swung inwards, he groaned with relief and dropped the precious scroll. Someone would find it. His work was done.  
  
He let the curse take him.  
  


****

  
  
"He's still alive in there." Tsunade looked every year of her age and more, hand pressed against the stone Komainu that now graced Konoha's gate. "I can feel him. He saved us, you know. It's not fair that he has to bear the curse now, as well."  
  
Kakashi hesitated, then put his hand on her shoulder. Umino may have brought the forbidden medical scroll to Konoha, but in the end, it was Tsunade who had saved them, Tsunade who had sacrificed herself as she'd poured her chakra into dying bodies, Tsunade who had gone without sleep for days, Tsunade who had used the scroll to drive away the plague that had wiped out half the village.  
  
In Kakashi's opinion, any curse Umino faced paled in the face of Tsunade's suffering. She hadn't been able to save them all, and had to live with the deaths of those she thought she'd failed. Umino at least had had the comfort of knowing his sacrifice might save the lives of those left. It was just the way you looked at things, that's all.  
  
"It was his choice." He kept his voice gentle. "Is there any way to lift the curse?"  
  
"The scroll just said, 'If greed is in your heart, a demon shall take you. But loyalty shall have its salvation, when the beginning and the ending are one.'"  
  
"A bit cryptic," Kakashi said.  
  
Tsunade's anger flared. "You think?"  
  
_She's still kicking._ She'd been a ghost of herself, drifting, for the past month. Kakashi hid his relief with a shrug. "Like I said, he made his choice. I'd have made sure to ask for written instructions, if I'd been him."  
  
"Fine," Tsunade snapped. "If you're such an expert on cursed scrolls, you solve this one."  
  
"What makes you think it's solvable?"  
  
"If Iruka doesn't define 'loyalty,' I don't know what does." She glared at Kakashi. "So get that curse lifted, shinobi. That's an order." She whirled and stalked away, headed toward the Hokage Tower.  
  
Kakashi's heart soared. Tsunade was back. Then, her words sank in.  
  
"How the hell am I going to do that?" he shouted. She waved dismissively, not turning around, so Kakashi directed a mild glare at the Komainu. "I suppose you won't help me, either."  
  
Umino, if he was still in there like Tsunade said, remained silent.  
  


****

  
  
Weeks flew by as Konoha slowly began to rally after the plague. The last of the hospitalized were released, the memorial services for the dead dwindled to an end, and any able body available was pressed into service, with so few people left to carry out the tasks of running a shinobi village.  
  
Kakashi was caught up in a whirlwind of patrolling, strategy and planning. Konoha was vulnerable, and Tsunade drove him to rebuild their ranks and come up with defenses that could be implemented with fewer defenders. While the chuunin and jounin hadn’t suffered the losses that the civilian population had, probably due to their physical strength and training, the mortality rate for the genin and the older generation shinobi had still been high. Tsunade insisted that any civilian child who showed an aptitude for chakra control should be recruited, and had placed Kakashi in charge not only of security for the village, but oversight of the Academy.  
  
"If I hear one more instructor bitching about what a loss Umino's death was to the Academy, I'll Raikiri them," Kakashi muttered one day, surrounded by stacks of lesson plans that he was reviewing. He had to admit, though: Umino's lesson plans were proving to be a godsend. Too bad Umino wasn't around to do the boring administrative details that Tsunade had foisted on Kakashi. He'd have been perfect for it. All dry lessons and obsessive attention to detail, if his work was any indication.  
  
Gai, who had insisted on helping him redesign the weapons course, frowned. "But Iruka-sensei isn't technically dead, is he?"  
  
"That's what Tsunade says." Kakashi had his own opinion, and it was a lot more pragmatic. The guy was a stone, after all. "By the way, I thought I told you to go away and leave me alone."  
  
"Tsunade-sama is rarely wrong." Gai planted his foot on a chair and stabbed a finger in the air. "It shall be my sworn duty to help you lift Iruka-sensei's curse!"  
  
Kakashi winced. "Gai, it's impossible. I've already examined the original scroll every way I can and ransacked the library. There just isn't any information about how to lift this curse."  
  
"Nothing is impossible, when the two of us take on a task," Gai pronounced. "I challenge you to a deadline. We must find the cure for Iruka-sensei's curse by the next full moon, or I will carve him a companion with my bare hands."  
  
"Okay," Kakashi said to shut him up. After all, if they failed, who knew? Maybe Umino would like another statue to keep him company.  
  


****

  
  
Full moons came and went, and Gai made great progress not only on giving Umino a Komainu companion, but in populating quite a nice little shrine around the two statues.  
  
"Technically, the shrine should probably be behind the village gates," Pakkun pointed out one fine autumn day.  
  
Kakashi grunted, sprawled against Umino's leg, nose buried in a copy of _Icha Icha_ he'd read so many times that its spine felt like velvet under his fingers. The sun lay warm on his face, and red leaves adorned Umino's head and drifted around his feet, smelling as sharp as the blade of a sword.  
  
Pakkun suddenly yipped in fear, and Kakashi was on his feet in an instant, kunai drawn. "What?"  
  
"Th-th-the statue," Pakkun said, staring at Umino. "It just talked."  
  
Kakashi glanced at Umino, startled. "I didn't hear anything."  
  
"It did," Pakkun insisted. "It said, 'get off your lazy ass and help me.'"  
  
"Get Tsunade. And Gai," Kakashi added, mind racing. If Pakkun was right, and the statue had said something, he very much doubted it could be Umino talking after all this time. The scroll had said something about a demon, and he wasn't about to take chances without Gai's help.  
  
Pakkun backed away, still staring at Umino, then turned and ran toward the village.  
  
Since kunai would be useless against a stone demon, Kakashi sheathed his and frowned, gaze still on the statue. He readied himself for a fast Raikiri, but waited. "You couldn't have said anything before?"  
  
The statue seemed to glare at him.  
  
"Right." Kakashi cocked his head to one side. "You'll have to convince me that you're Umino."  
  
Irritated leaves swirled around the statue's feet.  
  
"I'll need more than that," Kakashi replied.  
  
Gai burst into the gateway, Pakkun by his side. "I'm coming, my rival!"  
  
"Yo." Kakashi gestured at the Komainu as Gai and Pakkun joined him. "Is it my imagination, or is that dog glaring at me?"  
  
"It's not your imagination, boss," Pakkun said. He winced. "But I'm not going to repeat what he's saying."  
  
"How come you hear him and not me?" Kakashi demanded.  
  
Pakkun shrugged. "Maybe because I'm a dog? I mean, I've heard other Komainu statues before. It's just that they've been gods and this one isn't. But he says that you think he's not Iruka-sensei?" He looked up at Kakashi. "Believe me, boss, he's who he says he is."  
  
"IRUKA-SENSEI?" Gai boomed. "CAN YOU HEAR ME?"  
  
"He can hear you just fine," Pakkun said, covering his ears.  
  
"DON'T WORRY, IRUKA-SENSEI! WE'LL FIND A WAY TO SAVE YOU!"  
  
"I think Pakkun means you don't have to shout, Gai," Kakashi said. He touched the Komainu's shoulder and snatched his hand back. "Whoa!"  
  
"What's up, boss?"  
  
"DID HE BITE YOU?"  
  
"Stop shouting, Gai, and no, he didn't bite me." Kakashi examined the statue. "He's got a pretty foul mouth on him, doesn't he?" He would have bet that the no-imagination academic he'd been studying wouldn't have known half the words he'd just heard when he'd laid a hand on the stone.  
  
"He's notorious for it, according to the genin I've talked to," Pakkun replied. "They're scared shitless of him."  
  
Kakashi grunted. Maybe there was more to the sensei than he'd first thought. He reached out and touched the Komainu again, lightly. "Well, it's not going to do you any good to swear at me, Iruka-sensei. Why don't you tell me how to lift the curse, instead?" He snatched his hand away again. "Amazing," he said, impressed. "That one was pretty creative."  
  
"I don't think it's physically possible," Pakkun said, blinking. "No matter how hard you tried."  
  
Tsunade stalked through the gate, followed by two ANBU. "What's going on? Pakkun said something about Iruka-sensei talking?"  
  
"Cursing, more like," Kakashi replied. "Personally, I wouldn't put my hand too near his mouth right now. Those teeth look sharp."  
  
Tsunade turned to the ANBU. "Make sure we're not overheard. I don't want this information to get out to the other villages. God knows what they'd do to get the scroll if they're hit by the same plague. We don't have the resources to battle them for it." The two ANBU faded into the trees and she turned back to the statue. "Iruka-sensei. Report."  
  
Pakkun glanced between Tsunade and Kakashi. "Do you want to handle this, boss?"  
  
"What do you mean?" Tsunade demanded.  
  
"He can't just… talk," Kakashi said. He sighed. "I'll do it." He placed his hand on the Komainu's shoulder again, bracing himself against the wave of outraged desperation that poured from the statue. "Pakkun can hear him, and so can I, when I'm touching him."  
  
Tsunade immediately placed her hand on the Komainu. "Report," she repeated.  
  
Images and words flooded Kakashi's mind: Umino's desperation, the way the forbidden scroll had burned his hands when he'd stolen it, the words of the priest who had fought him and died by Umino's hand, strangely calm and accepting, the way Umino's chakra burned along with his shame and hope as he'd raced back to the village, growing weaker with each passing moment.  
  
Tsunade shook her head and dropped her hand. "Do you hear anything?"  
  
Surprised, Kakashi nodded. "He went to the library and found the reference to a forbidden scroll that held the secret to curing the plague. Then he just… went to get it."  
  
"He told me about it before he left," Tsunade said. "I need to know what happened after that."  
  
Sorting through the memories that Umino was sharing, Kakashi said, "He was actually pretty clever about it. It sounds like he figured out where the shrine that contained the scroll was by matching a diagram in the reference materials to the position of the stars. When he got to the shrine, a priest tried to stop him. They fought, and the priest was killed. Before he died, he said something about… Iruka-sensei needing to become whole?" He shook his head. "Iruka-sensei doesn't know what he meant. He just grabbed the scroll and ran back here with it." Kakashi felt the memory of the curse taking hold of Umino and leaned closer, instinctively wanting to help, knowing he couldn't. "He burned all of his chakra keeping the curse at bay long enough to get here."  
  
"Did the priest say anything about lifting the curse?"  
  
Kakashi shook his head. "Not that Iruka-sensei remembers." Beneath his hand, Umino was stoic, but Kakashi could sense his sorrow. "He's sorry, but he doesn't regret doing it, either, Hokage-sama."  
  
Tsunade's expression softened. "I knew that. He's a good man, and an excellent shinobi."  
  
"So, we have another clue!" Gai put his fists on his hips and jutted out his chest. "Never fear, Iruka-sensei. My noble rival and I will defeat this riddle and set you free!"  
  
A flicker passed under Kakashi's hand and he dropped his eyes, not wanting to meet anyone's gaze. "Maybe we shouldn't be making promises we can't guarantee we'll keep," he said quietly. He could feel Umino's agreement.  
  
"I refuse to believe that," Gai said. He glared at Kakashi. "Are you saying you'll give up?"  
  
Kakashi shook his head. "No, I'll keep working on it."  
  
Umino's presence disappeared in a ripple of exhaustion, and the stone under Kakashi's hand grew cold. He was surprised at how much he wanted the heat to return. Umino seemed to be more than just a paper-pushing academic. He'd been clever, and fearless, human enough to regret killing the priest but shinobi enough to do anything to save his village. He'd cursed fluently, and reported faithfully, and loved his village deeply, more deeply than Kakashi could remember ever feeling, as secure as he was in his love for Konoha.  
  
"I will," he whispered to the stone. "I'll try. I promise."  
  
He'd been wrong about Umino. Somehow, some way, he was determined to restore the heat he'd felt from the man trapped in stone.  
  


****

  
  
When winter arrived, it was bitter and edged, brittle like the hopelessness that hounded Kakashi. Not even the Nara clan had been able to help him find a counter to Umino's – Iruka's – curse. The sensei seemed to be falling into the past for most people, in fact. The villagers, still struggling, rarely had time to brush the snow away from Iruka's back, so Kakashi fell into the habit of doing it. Once or twice he found Iruka snow-free, coinciding with times that Naruto was in the village, but Naruto was Tsunade's first choice now for long-distance missions, and rarely was back for more than a day. Since Shizune had died in the plague, her duties had somehow fallen to Kakashi, who rarely left Tsunade's side. He didn't mind the job, though. If he were honest with himself, he had to admit that his own brush with the plague had left him weaker than he’d been before. He didn't leave the village often anymore, and it felt good to rid Iruka of the small burden, and to feel the stone warm under his fingers in thanks.  
  


****

  
  
Spring was slow in coming, so Kakashi took advantage of the first warm, sunny day to sit with Iruka and sharpen his weapons while Gai completed his ridiculous exercises nearby.  
  
"We almost have it," Gai insisted without breaking his rhythm of one-fingered headstand push-ups. "The curse will be lifted when the beginning and the ending are one. The priest said that Iruka needed to be whole. The clues have to be linked."  
  
"We've known that for months." Leaned against Iruka's leg, Kakashi could feel his agreement. "Iruka-sensei seems to think that maybe his form is a clue."  
  
"Hmm." Gai switched to another finger. "Komainu are usually in pairs, but no one else has been cursed like Iruka-sensei." He paused. "But wait. Could someone be cursed somewhere else? Or does someone else need to be cursed, too, to make a pair? Iruka-sensei is clearly an a-gyou. Perhaps he needs an un-gyou partner."  
  
"I thought of that a while ago," Kakashi said. "Naruto has been looking for cursed Komainu during his missions, but hasn't found any, yet."  
  
"Would he even know if he found one?" Gai resumed his push-ups.  
  
"He says the fox can feel Iruka-sensei, so he's pretty sure it could sense another person under the same curse."  
  
"Does the curse let Iruka-sensei sense similarly cursed people?"  
  
The stone warmed Kakashi's back. "He thinks it might. He says he feels something, but it doesn't feel like someone under a curse. Just someone…" he tried to sort through the images, but had to settle for, "…someone else that isn't whole."  
  
"I could carry him places," Gai offered. "Perhaps he could find his other half then."  
  
Kakashi shrugged. "Iruka-sensei is from Konoha. He thinks it's not realistic to look elsewhere, since he doesn't want to leave. And he's completely against anyone else from Konoha getting cursed, too, even if we could figure out how to do it. I agree with him, by the way." Just like they both agreed that it would be unsafe to bring another cursed individual to Konoha with the village still vulnerable. Not for the first time, Kakashi thought how much easier it would be if he could be Iruka's other half.  
  
"But if it would lift the curse..."  
  
"He says it's not happening, so drop it."  
  
"So he thinks it could be linked to his form." Gai changed his approach, undaunted. "But not necessarily another cursed person. Well, Komainu protect. Could it be another protector?"  
  
"Makes sense," Kakashi said, and felt Iruka agreeing with him.  
  
"Another shinobi?"  
  
The warmth was stronger this time. "Definitely, if Iruka-sensei's right about the person he senses."  
  
Gai dropped and sat across from Kakashi, looking excited. "We're nearly there, I know it! We will Prevail yet!"  
  
"Komainu pairs. Protectors. Shinobi," mused Kakashi.  
  
"Komainu are dogs. One of the Inuzuka clan members?"  
  
Kakashi shook his head again. "He doesn't think so. But the dog connection…" He listened to Iruka. "That feels right to him."  
  
"But you're the only other person in the village with dogs," Gai said. He blinked. "Not that I meant you're the one, my eternal rival! If you were, I know you would have saved Iruka-sensei by now."  
  
"I wish I were, it would make this a hell of a lot easier," Kakashi muttered. "Sorry, Iruka-sensei."  
  
He almost felt like Iruka had laid his hand on his shoulder and squeezed comfortingly. Kakashi eased away from the statue, trying to keep it casual, but suspecting Iruka guessed why he'd withdrawn.  
  
It hurt like hell to be forgiven for failing.  
  


****

  
  
"I've still haven't found a way to lift the curse, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said months later, when gold and red began to edge the leaves. More than a year, now. "Do you want me to continue?"  
  
Tsunade sighed. "We can't give up on him."  
  
Kakashi agreed, but he suspected time was running out. "I think he's leaving us, Hokage-sama. He's not always there when I visit him, anymore. Even when he is, he feels further away." He hesitated, then shared his fears. "I think he's making the decision for us."  
  
"Have you talked to him about it?"  
  
Kakashi shook his head. "If I bring it up, I'm pretty sure he'll leave for good."  
  
She glared at him. "I'll forbid him to give up."  
  
Part of him wanted her to confront Iruka, wanted her to make Iruka stay. But memories of his father haunted him, how he'd faded away, wreathed in regrets, until he disgraced himself for the last time. If Iruka wanted to leave, Kakashi didn't want him to go through the hell his father had. "I don't think that's wise, Hokage-sama." At her stricken look, he added, "But I'll stay with him to the end."  
  
"Is that it?" she asked. "Is that all we can do for him?"  
  
He could only nod.  
  


****

  
  
Kakashi and Gai built a shelter around Iruka, but when Gai offered to take turns with Kakashi to keep Iruka company, Kakashi waved him away. It was his responsibility. Even if he hadn't really known the sensei before the curse, Iruka was his friend now. He unrolled his knapsack next to the statue, and on cold nights, his pack kept them warm.  
  
The solstice dawned frigid and clear, the sun weak but visible through the bare branches above them. Iruka had been silent for several days, although Kakashi could feel an echo of his warmth when he pressed against the stone.  
  
Kakashi was pretty sure that it was Iruka's last dawn, so he demolished the shelter's roof to let the faint light play over them, draped an arm over Iruka's broad back, and settled in to wait. If he was wrong, he'd just do wait with Iruka the next day, and the next, and the next.  
  
"I'm so sorry I failed you," he whispered. "I wanted to make you complete."  
  
The stone beneath his cheek warmed in reply for a moment, before fading again.  
  
"I'm here. I'll be here. I won't leave you." Kakashi traced Iruka's sharp teeth. "And you'd better come back to bite the ass of anyone who threatens us. If you'll be Konoha's first defense, I swear I'll make sure that I'm here to be the last."  
  
He closed his eyes and fell silent. The day crept by, shadows and deepening cold, until Kakashi finally slipped into a restless, aching sleep as the thin moon rose through the branches.  
  
In his dreams, the stone warmed. This time, it didn't fade, but kept building until Kakashi could swear he could feel Iruka pressed next to him.  
  
"Thank you," Iruka whispered. "I won't leave you, either. I'll always be the first, if you'll be my last."  
  
"Deal," Kakashi murmured.  
  
"Hey." Someone shook his shoulder, but Kakashi didn't want to interrupt his dream, not yet, not ever, so he wrapped more tightly around Iruka's warmth and ignored the touch. "Hey," the person said again. "Kakashi. Wake up."  
  
"No," he said, keeping his eyes closed.  
  
"It's over," the voice said. "Wake up."  
  
"Go away."  
  
"I can't. We have a village to protect." The hand on his shoulder slipped into his hair, and a forehead pressed against his. "Idiot."  
  
He'd heard that 'idiot' before, though never in his ear… "Iruka?"  
  
"For a genius, you're pretty slow, aren't you?"  
  
Kakashi pulled the warmth close. "Maa, you're demanding, aren't you?" He pressed his lips to Iruka's eyes, not surprised to find his mask had disappeared somewhere, and murmured, "Let's get to work, then."  
  
He opened his eyes, and Iruka's smile dispelled the cold.  
  


_fin_


End file.
